Tool-handle.



H. E. WALLACE.

TOOL HANDLE.

APPUCATION FILED JAN. 10. 1916.

1,204,622. Patented Nov, 14,1916.

it" I 5.

HARRY E. WALLACE, OF REDWOOD CITY. CALIFORNIA.

TOOL-HANDLE.

Application filed. January 10, 1916.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HARRY E. VVALLAGE, a citizen of the United States, residing at .Redwood City, in the county of San Mateo and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tool- Handles, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to tool handles, and particularly to that class of tool handle wherein the tool is removable from the handle so that interchangeable tools may be used with a single handle.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of a very simple, strong and effective means for detachably connecting a tool shank to a handle, and a further object of the invention is the provision of means upon the handle whereby the tool shank may be positively engaged with the handle and locked in its engaged position against movement and against accidental displacement.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a construction which will strengthen that portion of the handle which is under normal circumstances relatively weak.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention, showing the handle and the tool shank separated; Fig. 2 is an elevation, partly in section,- showing the handle and the tool shank engaged; Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Referring to these figures, 10 designates a handle of a tool, as for instance, a hoe, shovel or like implement though I have illustrated my invention as applied to a hoe handle. One end of this handle is reduced in diameter and slightly tapered as at 11 and internally bored as at 12, the bore eX- tending approximately to the end of the reduced portion. Surrounding the reduced portion of the handle is a sleeve 13 or ferrule. Formed within the reduced portion 11 is a longitudinally extending slot 14 which intersects the bore 12. Surrounding the sleeve or ferrule 13 is a band or collar 15 formed with the radially projecting ears 16 which are disposed on each side of the slot 14. Pivoted between these ears is the angular clamping'member 17. This clamping member 17 has a heel 18 which extends out Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

Serial No. 71,320.

at right angles to the body of the clamping member and which has a rounded edge 19 and a. fiat face 20. When the clamping member is turned to the position shown in Fig. 2, the flat face 20 will project a very slight distance into the bore 12. The rounded edge 19 permits the clamping member to be rotated from the position in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2. a.

The tool shank 21 is cylindrical and fits the bore 12 closely. The inner end of the tool shank is formed with a recess 22, this recess having a shoulder 23 at one end which extends perpendicular to the base of the vrecess will be behind the heel 18 under these circumstances and any pull upon the shank will slmply tend to jam the clamp into tlghter engagement with the shank than it was before. Thus the shank will be positively held from any longitudinal movement, and the flat face 20 of the heel 18 of the clamp bearing against the transversely fiat face of the recess 22 will prevent any rotation of the shank.

The shank may be attached to any suitable tool but I have shown it as' attached to a hoe 25. The handle illustrated is suitable for hoes, rakes, forks, or any of the many tools used in gardening or like pursuit. The invention may also be applied to shovel handles and on mops, floor brushes, window cleaners, etc., and it will be obvious that under these circumstances avariety of different tools may be used with the same handle. At the present time in many cases the handle is connected to the tool by means of a screw threaded shank and this is very unsatisfactory as the handle is liable to unfact that the band 15 which encircles the ferrule adds strength to the handle at a point which would ordinarily be particu larly Weak. It will also be seen that the clamping device tends to contract the band and thereby contract the ferrule and the reduced portion of the handle upon the shank so that the reduced portion of the handle is fully supported against strain. Inasmuch as wood is becoming scarcer and scarcer each year the need for detachable handles is correspondingly greater, and it Will be seen that my handle fulfils the requirements of simplicity, cheapness of construction and strength.

handle and a clamping member eccentrically mounted upon the band and having an angularly extending heel, the clamping member being rotatable to a position where its heel projects into the slot, of a circular tool shank fitting said bore and adapted to be inserted therein and formed at its extremity with a longitudinally extending recess Within which the heel on the clamping member is adapted to engage, the recess terminating at its lower end in a wall extending to the periphery of the shank whereby to prevent the withdrawal of the tool shank from its engagement with the heel.

2. The combination with a handle having a reduced portion and a longitudinally eX- tending bore therein and formed with a longitudinal slot intersecting the bore, and a tool shank insertible into the bore, the shank adjacent its extremity being formed with a longitudinally extending recess, the recess being transversely flat and at its outer end formed with a shoulder and curved outward at its inner end, of a ferrule surrounding the reduced portion of the handle and correspondingly slotted, a' band surrounding the ferrule and having outwardly turned spaced ears disposed at the slot and an angular clamping member eccentrically pivoted in said ears and having aheel adaptedto be inserted in said slot and into engagement with the recess in the shank, said heel having a transversely flat end and a rounded side edge. V

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiiX my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HARRY E. WVALLAOE.

Witnesses:

G. E. SEELY, A. S. LIGNON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C. 

